France on Monday expressed its support to the approach of the new UNSG Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Christopher Ross, which consists of bringing together the parties to the Sahara issue for informal talks in Austria.

Morocco will participate, at the invitation of UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy, Christopher Ross, in a restricted informal meeting on August 9-11 in Austria, in preparation for the fifth round of negotiations on the Sahara, according to a statement by the Moroccan Foreign Ministry made on Saturday.

 A delegation of the American congress staffers has arrived on Wednesday to Dakhla and  held    two meeting with both the chairmen of the elected councils, and the civil society activists, within the framework of a three day visit to Dakhla.

The autonomous Sicilian government reaffirmed its support to the autonomy initiative proposed by Morocco to settle the Sahara issue.

Delegations of the parties to the Sahara dispute and the neighbouring countries (Algeria and Mauritania) will hold informal meetings on August 10-11 in Austria, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General announced on Monday.